Ecuador Facts for Kids

On the north, Ecuador is bordered by Colombia while on the eastern and the southern side it is bounded by Peru.

On the western side of Ecuador there is the Pacific Ocean, whereby some of its islands known as the Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean.

These islands stretch about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) along the western side of the mainland.

Ecuador is one of the two countries located in South America that does not share a border with Brazil.

The currencies used in this country are the United States Dollar and the Ecuadorian Centavo Coins.

The capital city of Ecuador is known as Quito. The total number of people living in Quito city is estimated to be approximately 2, 671,191 people according to the 2014 census. Quito is elevated about 2,850 meters (9, 350 feet) above the sea level making it the second most elevated city in the world. Officially Quito is known as San Francisco de Quito.

The tallest mountain in Ecuador is Mount Chimborazo which has a height of 6,268 meters.

The mountain is located on the bulge of the equator making it the point in the world that is nearest to the sun. The summit of the mountain is the farthest place from the core of the earth making Ecuador the closest nation on earth to the space.

The longest river in Ecuador is Napo River which covers a total distance of 1,075 kilometers.

Other major rivers found in Ecuador are Curaray River (800 km), Pastaza River (710 km), Aguarico River (390 km), Esmeraldas River (320 kilometer) and Guayllabamba (240 km) among others.

The total number of people of living in Ecuador is estimated to be approximately 16.39 million as per 2016.

The ethnic composition of Ecuador is made of Mestizo which are the majority making up of 72 percent of the total population, followed by Montubio with 7 percent and African Ecuadorian with 7 percent. Also the Native South American comprise 7 percent of the total population.

Ecuador is the only country on earth whose name was derived from a geographical feature. Its name is derived from the equator which passes through this country.

Formally the country was called Republica Del Ecuador which can be interpreted as The Republic of the Equator.

The landscape of Ecuador is of three types, namely the Sierra which is made up of the highlands found in the central region, the tropical forests belonging to the Oriente and the grasslands found in the coastline region.

The climatic conditions in the western region of Ecuador are generally warm with an average temperature of about 25 degrees while the shoreline region receives rainfall between the month of January and April. This period is also characterized by hot temperatures.

The official language spoken in Ecuador is Spanish.

The second widely spoken languages in Ecuador are the Shuar which is spoken by the Quechuan language family and the Kichwa which is spoken by the Jiyoroan language family. Other indigenous languages used in Ecuador are Zaparo, Tetete, Siona, Secova, Embera, Cofan, Cha’palaachi, Awa-Cuaiquer and Achwa-Shiriwa. Among these indigenous languages the Awa-Cuaiquer is the most spoken one.

Ecuador is the world leading exporter of bananas. Natural resources found in Ecuador are petroleum, timber and hydropower resources.

91.95 percent of the people who live in Ecuador submit to a certain religion. The Catholics are the majority with 80.44 percent while 11.30 percent are Protestants. About 1.29 percent of the people follow the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine while 6.97 percent follow other religions such as Islam and Hinduism among others. 7.94 percent of the people believe do not believe in existence of any deities while 0.11 percent believe the existence of supernatural powers is unknown.

Ecuador was colonized by the Spanish people but attained their self-independence on the 10th August of 1809. Today, the president is the head of government in Ecuador.

Ecuador has two World Heritage Sites which were created by the UNESCO in 1978. There two are The Galapagos Islands and The City of Quito. Three more sites were added afterwards which are Sangay National Park which was established in 1983, The Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Rios de Cuenca which was founded in 1999 and the Qhapaq Nan, Andean Road System which was opened in 2014.

The total area covered by Ecuador is 283,560 kilometer square whereby the dry land covers a total area of 276,841 kilometer Square. The water bodies in this country occupies a total area of 6,720 kilometers square.